Mar 19, 2017; Tulsa, OK, USA; Michigan State Spartans mascot before the game between the Kansas Jayhawks and the Michigan State Spartans in the second round of the 2017 NCAA tournament at BOK Center.(Photo: Brett Rojo, USA TODAY Sports)

If that's where you're coming from, you're part of the problem. And right now, MSU has a problem — a profound one.

Never mind that it took three years for the alleged victim to go public. Dismissing accusations for this reason is stomping on the #MeToo movement. And ignoring the cultural shift that has given victims the courage to tell their story.

It's not for us to judge someone else's trauma. Or the effects of that trauma. Or the physical and psychological reaction to that trauma that can force someone into hiding.

Which is what allegedly happened here, according to a lawsuit filed Monday, whose pages lay out the story of an MSU student who said she was raped by three Michigan State basketball players, was told to ignore it by counselors, stayed quiet, struggled to stay in school, dropped out, tried to reorient herself, got back into school, and ultimately decided she could no longer bear the pain.

So, let's begin with the accusations. Because they are clear. They are horrific, too.

On the night of April 11, 2015 and the morning of April 12, three Michigan State basketball players lured a female student back to their apartment under false pretenses, and took turns raping her.

Eight days later, the student sought counseling at MSU. She was allegedly told — among other things — that the counseling office had seen a lot of cases involving "guys with big names" and that the best thing to do was to "just get yourself better."

At least according to the lawsuit filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Western Michigan Southern Division. A lawsuit filed on behalf of an unnamed victim, accusing MSU of violating her Title IX rights by intentionally discriminating "if it knows of severe and pervasive sexual harassment occurring within its control … and does nothing."

Does nothing. If only that were the worst of it.

Because if the accusations are true, MSU did far worse than "does nothing." It actively tried to silence a rape victim, which is as despicable as the rape itself, exposing a larger culture that encourages rape and sexual assault.

Especially if you are one of the "guys with big names."

People March along Grand River in East Lansing in January on the Michigan State University campus in East Lansing while speaking out against sexual assault following the Larry Nassar case.(Photo: Ryan Garza, Detroit Free Press)

Think about that phrase and what it really means. For it tells us what this case is fundamentally about: entitlement. For athletes to treat women as sex objects. For a school to value its reputation more than it values the safety of its students.

Values that came into question this past winter when it became clear that MSU had mishandled complaints regarding sexual assault at the hands of Larry Nassar.

Now, is it fair to implicate the basketball program as part of the culture that allowed Nassar to prey on all those young women?

No. Not yet. Maybe not ever.

And while it's inhuman to dismiss the charges because of the time lapse, or because you love your basketball team, it's also unfair to dismiss due process.

We can believe the victim. We can believe the alleged perpetrators deserve their day in court.

What we don't know is whether anyone in the basketball program knew about the conversations that allegedly took place in 2015.

According to the lawsuit, the story died inside a counselor's office. It hasn't been investigated or adjudicated.

Until now.

That isn't necessarily Tom Izzo's fault. To assume he knew anything about this case robs him of his own due process in the court of public opinion.

What shouldn't be standard practice is assuming this Title IX lawsuit is a money-grab. That the victim is no victim at all. That she's a liar. That it's her fault because she had an alcoholic beverage and agreed to return to the assailant's apartment.

No. That's not how it works.

The lack of consent means no. The lack of an immediate police report doesn't mean it didn't happen. Skepticism is one thing; cynicism is another.

And if this lawsuit is true, we’re dealing with a staggering level of institutional cynicism. Not to mention corruption.

"The MSU (counseling) staff made it clear … that if she chose to notify the police, she faced an uphill battle that would create anxiety and unwanted media attention and publicity as had happened with many other female students who were sexually assaulted by well-known athletes."

Or this:

“We have had many other students in the same situation who have reported, and it has been very traumatic for them.”

I'm not sure what's more disheartening. That the counselor perhaps admitted how often athletes at MSU sexually assault students, or that the best way to recover from an attack is to forget it happened.

Maybe all of this was contained within an unscrupulous counselor's office. Maybe, as with Nassar, only a handful of people had knowledge of the crimes and the cover-up didn't go out from there.

Whatever happened, the victim deserves answers. Deserves to be taken seriously.

Deserves an investigation into not just these accusations, but into why the folks in charge of comforting and guiding students at their most vulnerable allegedly chose to protect the institution instead.